Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon), Vietnam

Ermagerd, I love this city!

I had a great bus ride from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh (aka Saigon), sat beside the cutest Vietnamese lady who kept feeding me snacks along the way. 

As we came into the city, which is HUGE, I could tell right away that there was something a tad different from other South East Asian cities I have seen so far: there are millions of motorbikes here. 

I mean, don't get me wrong, there are lots of bikes in other cities too, but this is a whole other level of bike traffic. 

Trying to cross the road is like some sort of mean joke - you essentially have to just take a deep breath, roll your shoulders back and strut out with confidence as the traffic magically surges around you. 

It's terrifying. 

One strange (annoying?) thing is that everywhere lists prices in USD (1USD = 21,000 Vietnamese Dong) but they don't take it anywhere, unlike Cambodia where they use both USD and Cambodian Real. Mais c'est la vie!

My fave park to run around in the morning :)

There are a bunch of exercise machines there, so you don't feel quite so crazy being the only Western chick running around like a sweaty mess ;)

War Remnants Museum

There are tons of museums in Saigon, although I unfortunately did not have enough time to see them all. 

I went to the War Remnants Museum and was very glad that I went. It gave me a much better understanding of the timeline of the Vietnamese war, although it was very difficult to see photos of some of the atrocities committed against Vietnamese villagers, not to mention the lasting effects of deformities due to the use of agent orange. 

Reunification Palace 

I also stopped in at the Reunification Palace en route to the museum. Such a cool place! 

It's super 70s style, with very severe placement of all of the furniture in the various rooms that used to house the president and his family. 

There are also rooms downstairs where the president and his war generals camped out during the Vietnamese war to do their logistics. 

It just happened to be the anniversary of the unification of north and south Vietnam when I was in Saigon, so I was able to see some of the festivities. 

There were tons of free music and dance shows throughout the city, along with fireworks along the waterfront. 

Modern Art Museum 

I did a little self-guided tour of the old part of Saigon (found it in the Vietnam Lonely Planet travel book) and stopped at the Modern Art Museum. 

I'm glad I did - it also had some historic art and pottery, along with sketches from the Vietnamese war and more contemporary pieces. 

Momster, you would have been so proud ;) 

Opera House 

I had the amazing opportunity to go see an A O Show at the opera house, called 'My Village'. 

Tickets are usually $60, way over my price range, but I was able to go for only $15 as long as I promised to write a review on TripAdvisor :) 

Sneaky, sneaky - I know! 

The show was amazing and had music and dance with bamboo sticks depicting life in rural northern Vietnam. The building itself is gorgeous. 

So glad that I went! 

I even splurged on a $10 drink and went to the sky bar to look out on the city. 

Unlike my snooty sky bar experience in Bangkok, I was allowe inside even if I looked a bit like a backpacking bum ;) 

So worth it!

Anywho, there are tons of things to do and see in Saigon, including some awesome markets. Def a great place to spend a few days! 

Vietnamese drip coffee. Love at first taste. 

Another cool thing about Saigon: people drink on bamboo mats out on Bui Vien street, the backpacker area. It was refreshing to see so many locals hanging out too :)

Sky Train, MBK Shopping Center and Sky Bar in Bangkok, Thailand

Ah, Bangkok. How crazy and wonderful you are. 

I have actually noticed a difference in the energy here. We have received a couple of advisories from the Canadian embassy that there has been a merging of demonstration camps in Bangkok, and you can feel a bit more tense energy in the area. 

We accidentally walked through the protest camp when we were here last and there were only a few hundred tents, but now it's a whole sea of them. I hope that they are able to settle their issues with the government without too much violence. 

Anywho, it was Cyn's last day in Thailand - hard to believe that it has been 3 weeks already! Time has flown by so fast!! 

We decided to get our shopping on to load her up with goodies to bring home for friends and family, so we took a boat ferry and the sky train to BMK, the big tourist shopping mall. 

The sky train was like a cleaner, more organized, and air conditioned version of the metro in Montreal. Also, it's in the sky. Same same but different. They even make you use your tickets to get out of the turnstiles and keep it in the machine to reuse them. No waste. Loves it! I hate seeing all of the metro stubs on the ground in Mtl. Bangkok clearly has it figured out. 

BMK is a huge shopping complex with tons of knock-off purses and clothing and pretty much anything else you would ever want. We didn't go that wild, though, since the vendors weren't really open to bargaining. Lame sauce. 

We jumped in a taxi - the first one who agreed to use his meter - and got a ride to sky bar. 

Sky bar is a restaurant at the top of one of the tallest hotels in Bangkok, and it is amazing! 

We got off at the wrong floor by accident and looked over the banister up and down - it was crazy tall! 

We weren't really prepared for sky bar, however, and looked kind of like bums (as per usual). The lady at the entrance kindly informed us that we would have to change and come back. 'No flip flops and dress, you know, fashionable'. 

Oops. 

She was super nice about it, though, and we all laughed. She let us go to the window and look out - best view of all time! You can grab a drink at the bar outside with an amazing view  of the city, or you have to reserve a seat about 2 weeks in advance. The drinks start at about $10, but it is totally worth it! 

Unfortunately, it was Cyn's last night and Bangkok traffic was brutal, so we didn't make it back. It was so weird to say goodbye to her. 

I walked around in a bit of a daze after watching her mini van drive off, but then got myself together, got a massage and met some people at the table beside me at a bar on Khaosan Rd. Took it like a champ ;) 

I'm heading back down south to visit some friends in Pattaya, should be wild times!